RennSport 7

Q: Grey screen of death

So my iMac is stuck in the grey screen after pressing the switch user button when I was going to log into my account- the I restarted and it froze. I contacted support we tried internet recovery (asks me to install Mountain lion when I have mavericks), safe mode (fails halfway), Apple Hardware Test (logic board and everything "seems to be ok", reinstalling Mavericks (did nothing), and disk utility (permissions - there were errors with permissions that it tried to fix but not sure that it did, the actual disk "seems to be OK"), and now in single user mode it seems to give two errors: " pthread support ABORTS when sync kernel primitives misused" AND " BootCacheControl: Unable to open /Var/db/BootCache.playlist:2 No such file or directory" - I think I have to take it to the genius bar but because there was no hard ware issue I'm hopeful there's an easier way.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Sep 15, 2014 4:14 PM

Close

Q: Grey screen of death

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy Sep 15, 2014 4:18 PM in response to RennSport 7
    Level 10 (271,133 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 15, 2014 4:18 PM in response to RennSport 7

    Erase the drive and reinstall Mavericks:

     

    Install or Reinstall Mavericks, Mountain Lion, or Lion from Scratch

     

    Be sure you backup your files to an external drive or second internal drive because the following procedure will remove everything from the hard drive.

     

    OS X Mavericks- Erase and reinstall OS X

    OS X Mountain Lion- Erase and reinstall OS X

    OS X Lion- Erase and reinstall Mac OS X

     

    Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible

                because it is three times faster than wireless.

  • by RennSport 7,

    RennSport 7 RennSport 7 Sep 15, 2014 4:23 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2014 4:23 PM in response to Kappy

    Is there a way to save my files before this because I haven't backed it up at all.

  • by Kappy,Helpful

    Kappy Kappy Sep 15, 2014 4:31 PM in response to RennSport 7
    Level 10 (271,133 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 15, 2014 4:31 PM in response to RennSport 7

    Not if you cannot boot the computer. Are you able to start from the Recovery HD?

     

    Boot Using Command+R keys:

     

      1. Restart the computer.

      2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the

          "COMMAND" and the "R" keys together.

      3. Release the keys when the Utilities Menu appears.

     

    If this works, then you can try to clone your drive to an external drive properly formatted for OS X. Once you have the computer working, then you can connect the external drive and try to access your files.

     

         1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue

             button.

         2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.

         3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.

         4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it

             to the Destination entry field.

         5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to

             the Source entry field.

         6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.

     

    Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

  • by RennSport 7,

    RennSport 7 RennSport 7 Sep 15, 2014 4:43 PM in response to Kappy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2014 4:43 PM in response to Kappy

    I can boot recovery HD- but first, what type of hard drive is necessary for this, second, how do I format the disk to clone my drive, and third I have some important word documents that I need now- can I just use disk utility to get those back using a flash drive? thanks.

  • by Kappy,

    Kappy Kappy Sep 15, 2014 4:52 PM in response to RennSport 7
    Level 10 (271,133 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 15, 2014 4:52 PM in response to RennSport 7

    Any external drive will do that's large enough to hold all the data on your internal drive. Use Disk Utility from the Recovery HD to format the external drive - one GUID partition and use Mac OS Extended, Journaled format on the external drive. Disk Utility cannot be used to restore specific files. It can only do a full disk copy.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 15, 2014 5:33 PM in response to RennSport 7
    Level 10 (207,978 points)
    Applications
    Sep 15, 2014 5:33 PM in response to RennSport 7

    I think I have to take it to the genius bar

    You're right. A negative hardware test doesn't mean anything. The internal hard drive has failed, or there is some other hardware fault.

  • by RennSport 7,

    RennSport 7 RennSport 7 Sep 15, 2014 5:50 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2014 5:50 PM in response to Linc Davis

    Thanks, I'm just curious though, if the internal hard drive has failed how am I still able to go through disk utilities and "choose image" to view the files? Also if I do use disk utility and clone the drive will I be able to get back specific files from the clone rather than having to restore from the whole back up- so I can pick and choose the files rather than completely restoring from backup? And in order this should be my plan right? -> 1. Get 500 gb hard drive and clone w/ disk utility 2. try erase and reinstall 3. Go to genius bar

  • by Linc Davis,Solvedanswer

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 15, 2014 5:57 PM in response to RennSport 7
    Level 10 (207,978 points)
    Applications
    Sep 15, 2014 5:57 PM in response to RennSport 7

    if the internal hard drive has failed how am I still able to go through disk utilities and "choose image" to view the files?

    A drive can, and usually does, fail without going completely dead.

    if I do use disk utility and clone the drive will I be able to get back specific files from the clone

    Yes.

    try erase and reinstall

    Even if you do manage to reinstall the OS, the drive still won't be trustworthy.

  • by RennSport 7,

    RennSport 7 RennSport 7 Sep 15, 2014 6:11 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 15, 2014 6:11 PM in response to Linc Davis

    To avoid further damage should I keep it turned off until I get an external hard drive?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 15, 2014 6:22 PM in response to RennSport 7
    Level 10 (207,978 points)
    Applications
    Sep 15, 2014 6:22 PM in response to RennSport 7

    That's what I would do.

  • by RennSport 7,

    RennSport 7 RennSport 7 Sep 16, 2014 4:23 PM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2014 4:23 PM in response to Linc Davis

    I got my portable hard drive- can I install OS X on it and boot directly from it or not?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Sep 16, 2014 5:54 PM in response to RennSport 7
    Level 10 (207,978 points)
    Applications
    Sep 16, 2014 5:54 PM in response to RennSport 7

    Yes.